Half of political prisoners in Iran are Kurds: UN

Around half of the political prisoners in Iran are Kurds, United Nations official was quoted saying.

In remarks on Tuesday, Javaid Rehman, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, said a total of 199 Kurdish citizens were arrested this year alone by Iranian authorities over political views, while a great number of Kurds have been sentenced to death by hanging in the country.

In a report issued on August 16, the United Nations said that there are eight to ten million Kurds in Iran, adding that the majority of them are suffering from lack of economic development and unemployment rates.

"There are very few Kurdish senior officials in the government, and the Kurdish language is taught only by civil society groups, not in official schools," the report said.